Pope Leo XIV calls for global AI regulation in landmark encyclical

Pope Leo XIV has released his first encyclical, calling for strict international regulation of artificial intelligence and warning that the technology risks concentrating power in the hands of a few, spreading disinformation, and fueling armed conflict. The 83-page document, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), was presented at the Vatican today and is addressed to the Catholic Church’s 1.4 billion members as well as “all people of good will.”

AI must not remain in private hands

At the core of the encyclical is a warning about who controls AI. “When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities,” Leo wrote. He called for ownership of AI data not to be left solely in private hands and demanded robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, and a political system that “does not abdicate its responsibility.”

The pope directly challenged tech executives who resist restrictions, arguing that “calling for prudence, rigorous evaluation and even, at times, a slower pace in adopting AI does not mean opposing progress.” He described slowing down as “an exercise of responsible care for the human family.”

The encyclical was presented alongside Chris Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI assistant. Olah acknowledged at the event that AI firms like his operate “inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing” and called for greater scrutiny from religious communities, civil society and governments.

Key concerns raised in the document

• AI in warfare: The pope declared it “not permissible” to entrust lethal decisions to AI systems and called the military use of AI a threat that lowers “the moral threshold of conflict.”
• Disinformation: Leo warned that “indifference to the truth leads, slowly but surely, to a descent into totalitarianism” and urged an “ecology of communication” based on transparency and verified journalism.
• Workers’ rights: While AI promises productivity gains, the encyclical states it “frequently forces workers to adapt to the speed and demands of machines.” The pope called for labor protections and renewed workers’ organizations.
• New forms of exploitation: Leo condemned the conditions of workers who extract rare earth minerals for AI hardware, describing their bodies as “scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly.”
• Algorithmic discrimination: The pope warned against “opaque algorithms” that perpetuate discrimination and described profiling and behavioral prediction as “a new form of power.”

The encyclical also took aim at transhumanism and posthumanism, philosophies common in Silicon Valley that treat human limitations as problems to be solved by technology. Leo argued the opposite: “humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them.” Replacing human beings with machines, he wrote, would cause “an anthropological regression.”

On the ethics of AI models that have adopted internal guidelines, such as Anthropic’s, Leo offered a pointed qualification: “A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few.” He stressed that ethical frameworks for AI must be subject to shared standards of social justice, not defined unilaterally by companies.

The document also addressed what Leo called a “new face of colonialism”: the large-scale appropriation of health data, genetic maps and demographic profiles by AI companies. “These have become the new rare earths of power,” he wrote, calling for individuals to regain control over how their data is used.

The encyclical was signed on May 15, the 135th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum,” the 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII that addressed workers’ rights during the Industrial Revolution. Leo XIV explicitly drew this parallel, framing AI as the defining challenge of a new industrial era.

Brian Patrick Green, director of technology ethics at Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, called the document “a landmark opportunity for the world to look at a new technology and really think about what it is for.”

Sources

• Pope Leo’s ‘Magnifica humanitas’: AI must serve humanity not concentrate power – Vatican News
• Quotes from Pope Leo’s document warning world of AI risks – Reuters
• Pope Leo Issues AI Manifesto Warning That ‘Opaque Algorithms’ Controlled by a ‘Few’ Companies Can Bring ‘New Forms of Dehumanization’ – Variety
• In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV says AI must serve humanity, not the powerful few – Religion News Service
• Pope, urging AI regulation, warns some weapons now beyond human control – Reuters